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MANILA, Philippines -- Singapore authorities have arrested and jailed an alleged big-time Filipino illegal recruiter, the Philippine embassy in Singapore said Wednesday.
In an e-mail to INQUIRER.net, Philippine Ambassador to Singapore Minda Cruz said Jonathan Que would spend the next 14 months in jail after a Singapore court convicted him of cheating his victims into handing him advance payments for non-existent job orders and marketing packages.
Cruz said Que's arrest and conviction became possible after her office was able to convince two of his victims to file cases against him.
She said six complainants have come to the Philippine embassy seeking action against Que.
Que's modus operandi, which extended from Zamboanga City to Manila and Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, had him sweet-talking legal recruitment agencies that wanted to expand their base of operations into handing him payments between P250,000 and P1 million.
He would tell them he was well-connected with the Philippine embassy in Singapore, particularly its labor office.
When Que’s victims would later discover that the job orders were fake, he would promise to reimburse them back their money until they were forced to leave the island-state empty-handed before their visas expire.
"He is the first big-time Filipino recruiter to have been convicted
and jailed in Singapore in recent memory…We applaud the speedy justice administered by Singapore's judicial system which is what his many victims eagerly expected," the ambassador said.
Cruz said Que's arrest, conviction, and imprisonment serve as an
important step against curbing illegal recruitment.
She said Que's ability to convince and defraud experienced owners and managers of legal recruitment agencies was worrisome.
"Part of the reason why the victims were so trusting was perhaps their mistaken belief that the embassy would facilitate the spurious job orders of Mr. Que," she said.
Cruz said she has contemplated filing defamation charges against Que for besmirching the reputation of the embassy and its officials, but Que has since issued an affidavit clearing embassy officials, particularly those from the Philippine Overseas Labor Office, of any wrongdoing.
The ambassador thus cautioned legal recruiters and job seekers into checking the credentials of a recruiter with the Philippine
Overseas Employment Administration before parting with their money.
Government records estimate that as of December 2007, there are an estimated 140,000 Filipinos in Singapore. Of the number, 26,000 are permanent residents, 75,000 are temporary residents, and the rest are irregular residents.
